We are looking to recruit a Research Associate with a research profile in autonomous robot navigation to join our agri-robotics research team.

The University of Lincoln robotics team (L-CAS) is working on a large project with the agri-robotics industry, towards the open development platform for robotic crop harvesting. The platform will facilitate open and standardised access to the core software and hardware components providing key functionality such as autonomy, safety or perception enabling rapid adoption by the industry and academia. The core functionality will enable further development and customisation which can be privately exploited by the industry, leading to faster adoption of more reliable robotic technology in agriculture. Such a strategy will lead to step changes in farming productivity and help to alleviate global problems with the availability of a workforce in the sector. In this project, the principle will be demonstrated by developing commercial robotic systems for tomato and strawberry harvesting.

One of the key components of the platform is autonomy enabling reliable and safe navigation of the mobile platforms deployed in agricultural settings. The academic focus will be on navigation techniques which can deal with dynamic and changing environments, enabling long-term operation and rely on affordable vision-based approaches. For that purpose, we are looking to recruit a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with relevant experience and/or a keen interest in a number of research areas, including (not exclusively):

• Long-term autonomy for mobile robots;
• Metric and topological representations for long-term operation;
• Learning for autonomous systems;
• Software engineering in robotics; and
• Integration and orchestration of robotic system.

This opportunity allows you to engage in international collaboration within an ambitious team, to work with state-of-the-art robotic hardware and software, and to benefit from excellent support to produce and disseminate original research contributions in the leading international conferences and journals. You will have access to state-of-the-art research farms equipped with industrial standard production facilities, as well as agricultural robots with advanced sensors and tools.  

Learn more at https://lcas.lincoln.ac.uk/wp/jobs/post-doctoral-research-associate-in-autonomous-navigation-for-agri-robotics/